THE CROWNED CRANES. 79 



THE CROWNED CRANES, 



IN THE ROYAL MENAGERY, TOWER OF LONDON. 



These beautiful birds form a part of the fourth order of birds, the waders or grallce of Linnaeus, and 

 are strikingly characterized by the great length of their legs, the lower part of which is entirely bare 

 of feathers ; a peculiarity which is of essential service to them, by giving them the power of standing 

 for a considerable length of time in the water without committing any injury to their plumage, during 

 which period they are on the watch for fish and reptiles, on which they chiefly subsist. 



The characters of this tribe are, a long, strong, and sharp-pointed bill ; linear nostrils, and pointed 

 tongue; toes connected by a membrane as far as the first joint, and the middle claw, in some of the 

 species, pectinated. The head of the crowned crane is ornamented with a crest of long and slender 

 filamentous feathers, capable of being raised or depressed at pleasure; its wings are large and 

 powerful, and its legs are covered with large scales; the outer and middle toes are united at the 

 base, and the claws are short, and destitute of denticulations. 



The crowned crane, amongst all the species of its tribe, is remarkable for the grace and variety of 

 its attitudes, and the elegance and lightness of its proportions. The feathers which cover its forehead 

 are of a brilliant black, ending in a short and thick tuft of a velvety appearance ; the filaments of its 

 crest are of a yellowish hue, and terminate in pencils approaching to a jet black ; its bill and legs are 

 also black. The feathers which are long and slender, and which fall down its neck, are black, with a 

 slight tinge of lead colour ; and the broader feathers, which cover the upper and under surface of the 

 body, are of the same colour. The wing-coverts are white ; the primary wing-feathers are black, and 

 the secondary ones of a reddish-brown. 



In its disposition the crowned crane is extremely tame, and no difficulty whatever exists in its 

 domestication. In its present state of comparative confinement, it exhibits no symptoms of fear, but 

 walks about the court-yard with the same confidence as the common domestic fowl. In its height it 

 seldom exceeds four feet. 



The crowned crane belongs to the Ardea genus of the grallse, according to the Linnean system ; but 

 Mr. Vigors, the truly scientific secretary of the Zoological Society, has attempted to establish another 

 classification, and in his description of the Gardens and Menagery of the Zoological Society, speaking 

 of this genus, he says, " In the methodical arrangements of Ray and Brisson, the storks formed a 

 distinct genus from the herons and the cranes, with which, and with various other less closely-allied 

 groupes, they were united in the Linnean system of classification. Later naturalists have, however, 

 seen the necessity of reverting to the older method, and of again separating those groupes, which form, 

 in the arrangement proposed by Mr. Vigors, two families, distinguished by well-marked characters, 

 and each comprehending several genera of considerable numerical extent. The first of these families 

 is the Graidce, which comprise the cranes, the trumpeter^ and other nearly-related genera, distin- 

 guished by the comparative shortness and obtuseness of their bill, and the slight degree of palmation 

 exhibited by their feet, which are smaller in proportion, and consequently better adapted to the 

 terrestrial habits of these birds, as the bill is to their vegetable food. The second is the ArdeidcB, 

 whose generally pointed bill, and long, slender, and more deeply webbed toes are equally well suited 

 to their aquatic habits, and to the nature of the food, chiefly fish and reptiles, on which they subsist. 

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